Galgotias University set to host grand finale of Smart India Hackathon from 25th to 29th Aug
Ten News Network
Greater Noida, August 24th, 2022: Smart India Hackathon is a nationwide initiative to provide students with a platform to solve some of the pressing problems we face in our daily lives, and thus inculcate a culture of product innovation and a mindset of problem-solving.
As part of ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’ celebrations, the Ministry of Education’s Innovation Cell and All India Council for Technical Education have identified 75 higher educational institutes and incubators as Smart India Hackathon nodal centers to host the participant of SIH and facilitate an environment to conduct the event in its well-defined and established format.
Galgotias University is one of India’s top-ranking universities (NAAC A+ credited), and one of the 75 nodal centers in the country.
In the country, only 18 nodal centers have been established for Hardware SIH, one of which is Galgotias University.
The university organized a press conference on Wednesday morning to share details of the event which will begin on August 25th and culminate on August 29th. The Vice Chancellor of Galgotias University, Dr. Preeti Bajaj, and the Head of Innovation Department were in attendance.
The Hackathon will be inaugurated at 9 am on August 25th and end at 8 pm on August 29th.
This year Smart India Hackathon-Junior has also been introduced for school students to build a culture of innovation and problem-solving attitude at the school level. The grand finale and felicitation ceremony for the students will also take place at Galgotias.
“This is the 5th edition of SIH wherein students are asked to create solutions to the real-life problems that the government is facing. The youth and their ideas are given importance and if successful, they are implemented”, said Bajaj.
“At Galgotias, 22 teams would be participating from seven states of India- Odisha, Kerela, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and West Bengal.”
The real-life problems would be provided by three ministries of India, i.e. Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology, and the Ministry of Jal Shakti.
The national-level inauguration will be on August 25th wherein the Minister of State for Education, Dr. Subhas Sarkar, the Chairman of AICTE, Prof. Anil Sahasrabudhe, and Vice Chairman of AICTE, Dr. Punya will be present among other dignitaries.
Out of 2 lakh participants, 15,000 students have been selected for the finale. One of the major themes of SIH announced by PM Modi is ‘education and innovation for differently-abled students.’
“There are seven teams formed by Galgotias University which will participate in different centers across India. At our center, 75 teachers will guide and accompany the students for all five days during which activities like yoga and zumba are also organized for the students”, Bajaj said.
Another interesting part of SIH is that all the tools used by the students, such as 3-D printers or geometric tools, would be indigenous.
When asked by Ten News about the practicality of these solutions and innovations, it was announced that the winners and top students would be felicitated with a cash prize of Rs. 1 lakh, and the government would also fund the students to form their own start-ups which would be monitored.
The university has also provided for the lodging, food, and fun activities for the students and teachers.
One-of-a-kind initiative in India, the students would have the opportunity to work on challenges faced by the government and the private sector organizations and create world-class solutions for some of the top companies in the world, thus helping the private sector hire the best minds from across the nation.
